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Celebration Europe Excitement!

Next to film release day, there are few more thrilling days of the year than Star Wars Celebration! I felt bad that I didn’t talk about last year’s events as much as I should’ve. So this year, I’m going to write down a fangirly paragraph or two on every panel I’m able to catch! So get excited!! I’ll be updating this post as things happen.NOTE: As far as spoilers are concerned… depends on the panel I’m talking about. Just in general you should’ve seen all the movies and the shows and stuff. And the panels too.

Let the nerding out begin!

AHSOKA’S UNTOLD TALES
Words can’t describe how fun, exciting, and feely this panel was. But I’m gonna try anyway ’cause that’s why I’m here. Just… OMG wow! We see Ahsoka riding a giant wolf and leading the Clones into battle and fighting Darth Maul and reuniting with old friends and making some new friends (at least this Nix guy anyway hehe) and pretty much just winning at everything. Beautiful concept art, a delightful storyreel clippy, and a few of the amazing people behind them… all in the same room. SO WIZARD. The panel answered some questions that needed answering and gave us the slightest beautiful little promise we might might might might see her again. Also that book. Can’t wait for that book. The excitement is electric bro. Funny story in that first sketch of Ahsoka and Nix I’ll be honest I thought that was Han for a moment XD That would be an interesting story though…

ILM SW ARCHAEOLOGY
Wasn’t 100% certain what this panel was about until I started watching it and DANGGG IT IS SO COOL! Got to learn a little what goes into recreating what we see in Episode IV for Rogue One. Can only imagine how painstaking a job that is so I applaud you heartily, ILM! Stormtrooper helmets, Star Destroyers, the Death Star… all beautifully nostalgic but beautifully new at the same time! Just taking a closer look at the Rogue One teaser again I’m astounded at the detail! And Doug Chiang talking about miniatures and card models and matte paintings?? SO COOL. The work they put into these films, again, is incredible. Oh! And the stuff they did on The Force Awakens too! This is actually the first time since that sizzle reel from a year ago I’ve really gone behind the scenes on VII, at least in a featurette/documentary sense, anyway. Yes I’m dumb and don’t have the Blu-Ray yet. Anyway, as a whole this entire panel re-reminded me what a massive amount of work goes into making these films, as well as how amazing these ILM folks are. Ahh the technology and artistry behind SW always makes me giddy :3 Also, ❤ that moonwalkin' trooper!

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
I’m so so sorry I haven’t talked more about my excitement for this film. I mean, when those photos came out the “Rogues” were all I could think about, but I had other things to blog about so I wasn’t able to give it the attention it deserves. Certainly there will be plenty of times between now and December to talk about it, and then for the rest of my life afterward, but hopefully I’ll be able to get some thoughts out in the post today. First my gosh isn’t Gwendoline Christie such a fun host?! She made this panel even more delightful than it already was! Captain Phasma may be all business but IRL she’s an excited fan like the rest of us! I suppose that’s not too surprising because not many people working on SW these days aren’t fans from the get-go but it’s cool all the same 🙂 Anyway, it’s truly amazing how everything fell together and how Rogue One began. And the folks working on bringing to life are truly amazing as well. Wow I’m just stating the obvious aren’t I? But it’s true! All of it! *SHOT* 😛 The energy in the room when the cast came out was just on fire, and Ben Mendelsohn coming out on stage in full regalia?? I know it’s been said before but WHOAAA he just OWNED IT. Never has a white suit and cape looked so dastardly and so classy at the same time! And of course the sizzle reel was beyond fantastic. There were too many great shots, but it was often the sweet little moments that stood out to me the most in some ways. Jyn handing the fruit to the villager for one (tough girl got heart awwz!). Seeing droids and several different species was awesome. I mean, I love that the main cast is mostly human, as it further exemplifies this idea of ordinary people making an extraordinary difference, but I’m glad we get to hang out with a few nonhumans along the way too, like that floofy white dude :3 All that beautiful old-meets-new imagery in general! Honestly I loved it all and I hope I’ve made that point very clear. The whole cast is just awesome, I’ll just go ahead and say that. After reading up on the characters and seeing their photos on EW, the fangirl gears didn’t stop turning. Each of them so unique, all sort of outcasts who come together ultimately for a common purpose, I couldn’t wait to meet them all. Fun fact, Chirrut is currently the one I have the most questions about, well maybe he and Saw are tied… anyway, I look forward to sharing those thoughts at a later date. But getting to see the actors portraying them and getting a further idea of their characters’ stories makes me love them even more than before. Also K2 is perfect, but you knew that XD And howzabout that poster tho?! It’s gorgeous!! It’s just all kinds of wow all around! Similar to feelings I had last year, I can’t tell if this has made it easier to wait, since I’m getting to learn more, or harder to wait, since I’ve still gotta wait until December to see it all. Either way, hype thrusters are GO!!

STAR WARS REBELS
After glimpsing Ezra’s new look earlier this week, I have to say the SWR panel was possibly the most highly anticipated for me. Not to say any of the other panels weren’t highly anticipated, but the majority of questions and queries on my mind lied with the fate of the Ghost family. And of course, the panel didn’t disappoint. Loved seeing Warwick Davis and Dave Filoni again, and Tiya Sircar and Sam Witwer were great. Seeing Mr. Witwer was a bit of surprise for me, since I had no clue he would be involved in the next season. Somehow I figured he’d go find someone else’s life to mess up somewhere else in the galaxy, but nope bro ain’t finished yet. (EDIT I hope it was clear I was talking about Darth Maul and not Sam Witwer in this sentence. YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG MR. WITWER!!) But it’s exciting and intriguing all the same. Everything goin’ on is exciting and intriguing. I mean… wow! For one, yay I called it Sabine finally gets that jetpack! Probably not accidentally purchased from someone who stole from Boba Fett, but still IT’S A JETPACK!! Everybody’s looking good with their new looks. Though I’ll always remember Ezra for his long hair, his short cut gives him a slightly more mature look for this chapter in life as he grows up, kind of sort of Luke-ish. Kanan has more fuzz now and that’s cool XD And of course Sabine gives me major hair envy as per usual. And then there’s that little thing with a dude named Thrawn… as you may know, I haven’t read Heir To The Empire and really anything by Timothy Zahn aside from an Insider short story. But I have heard of Thrawn, and as a fan of Ryder Windham’s Clone Wars Secret Missions series, I already think the Chiss species is awesome, so it makes me happy to know not only that Thrawn is now officially canon, but that his species is too 🙂 And thanks to his involvement in Rebels, I’ll likely make a point to read the classic novel sometime soon. So no questions I’m excited about season 3! But along with that excitement, there’s also some fear too… because honestly man I have no clue if anyone’s gonna make it out of this alive. That’s what I was thinking about last year, too, but danggg I don’t know how they keep finding new ways to up the ante, but they always do and they always deliver. And that’s just one of those things I love about Rebels and SW as a whole 🙂 Oh yeah and YESSSSSSS MAZ KANATA NEEDS TO MAKE IT INTO REBELS SOMEDAY!!

THE FREEMAKER ADVENTURES
Only got to read the liveblog on this one, but still good solid stuff. They may be Legos but these guys as Lucasfilm take them seriously as serious can get! So yay/aw situation: I was right about Zander’s age, not right about Kordi. Kordi is middle child, not the firstborn like for some reason I got into my head, but that makes her bossladyness all the more impressive. Why yes I do think about these things! Thank you for noticing. Oh it must’ve been great to hear Matthew Wood speaking as Roger for the audience! Y U NO STREAM THIS??? I do love they communicate with Leland Chee to make it as believably canon as they can get, ’cause aside from the occasional Lego self-awareness and SW jokes it’s canon in my mind. And yesss the idea of the Rebs running into the Freemakers… that would be a lot of fun… assuming anyone lives after this next season… OmO Good stuff tho! Those minifigs are my children! :3

STAR WARS PUBLISHING
Great great stuff is coming in the book world. No need for me to tell you that though. A whole collection of McQuarrie art! The Complete Locations! The beautifully-illustrated storybooks! And seriously why are we Yanks not able to read the Adventures In Wild Space series yet?? We better be able to soon ’cause you know I’m not missing out on a single canon chapter of this saga! (Or any chapter really) Either way, with stuff like this coming out, SHUT UP AND TAKE MAH MONEYYYYZ!!

RAY PARK
So this was really the first time I got to meet the man behind the Maul. I honestly didn’t know all that much about him (just my fault for not watching more of the featurettes 😛 ), but I absolutely adore him now. He is literally one of the nicest people I’ve ever seen! Watching him pal around with Warwick and teach fans both young and old his moves was fantastic. Gave me some feels when he personally answered the shy little boy’s question, and in the best way :3 And it’s really cool he’s still keeping up with and enjoying Maul’s further misadventures. SWC never fails to remind me that the people behind the magic of Star Wars are as amazing as the saga itself! Plus, the whole thing made me wish I knew some martial arts. Need to work on that…

Honestly there are too many things to talk about. So much talent, so much creativity, so much joy, so much passion… you could see that in everyone there, fan and filmmaker alike. The future of SW is looking so so bright, and I am beyond thrilled to see what comes next ❤

And don't worry. If I didn't cover something here, I'll likely talk about it in future posts. Can't wait 'til the next big reason to celebrate!